It was a pleasant day for a ballgame, especially considering it's still early in the season. Good game too, as the Paw Sox scored a pair of runs in the first inning and never looked back en route to a 5-2 win.
The Paw Sox played well enough, but their efforts were helped mightily by the Iron Pigs, who gave up eight walks and committed three errors on the day. The Pigs were sloppy indeed!
Since we had come from Double-A to Triple-A, it was fun to see several former Sea Dogs take the field for the Paw Sox.
Jeff Natale was back in action at first base. He had a good day at the plate, with a couple of hits and two RBI, as well as a good day in the field, making a nifty unassisted double play on a liner to first. At right, he steps to the plate in the bottom of the first before picking up a base knock to left field.
Catcher Dusty Brown was behind the plate for the start of the game, but his day was cut short when he was ejected in the bottom of the second for arguing a called third strike. The umpire had a short fuse, running him right away. Dusty made sure to get his money's worth before leaving the field, however!
The third former Sea Dog to play in the field was "scrappy" centerfielder Sean Danielson. Jeff Bailey was also in the lineup, leading off at DH.
Former Sea Dog pitcher Jose Vaquedano picked up the win, relieving (non-Sea Dog) starter Marcus McBeth, and fireballer Daniel Bard closed it out, hitting 99 on the radar a couple of times.
And speaking of former Sea Dogs, we always enjoy seeing former Portland and current Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson. RJ always seems to enjoy his job!
Did we mention we had great seats for the game? We had picked them up last December when we went to the Paw Sox Christmas party, at which we met Jeff Natale. (Very nice guy!)
The seats were so good that we were amongst some scouts and pitchers armed with radar guns. To the side of us were Pawtucket's Charlie Zink and Enrique Gonzales (Friday's and Sunday's starters respectively). Lehigh Valley's Justin Lehr (Sunday's starter) was behind us. They kept busy charting pitches throughout the game.
We've always enjoyed that aspect of minor league baseball. It's hard to imagine Josh Beckett, say, sitting amongst the fans at Fenway Park to chart pitches!
We also enjoy the sometimes less formal atmosphere of the minor leagues. For this game, the Paw Sox were celebrating the birthday of mascot Paws. The guest list included several other local mascots, including fellow Paw Sox polar bear Sox, the Red Sox' Wally the Green Monster, the Ram from URI, the Providence College Friar, the Dunkin' Donuts coffee and doughnut (whom we also met at McCoy during the off-season), plus our AHL pals Finz (Worcester Sharks) and Samboni (Providence Bruins). Very fun to see them all cavorting on the field!
Also fun is the chance to eat some tasty hot dogs and enjoy ice cream served in a mini-helmet.
So, good game plus good weather plus good eats equals good time!
Next weekend, we plan to move up even further. Stay tuned!
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